"Notwithstanding extensive advertising and offering to
pay $30.00 per set for these peculiar 'Patterns,' we have to date
secured but five sets. On account of the various rumors about the
number of sets struck, some placing the number at 200, others at
300, we have reduced our offers to $15.00, and our sale price to
$20.00.

What is not mentioned is exactly what is included in the set. While
it would be nice to think that for $20 one could also obtain an
1880 Coiled Hair stella, those pieces were apparently unknown at
the time. According to USPatterns.com, the 1879 Flowing Hair
stellas were offered in sets that also contained the Judd-1617 and
Judd-1626 patterns, both known as "goloid metric dollars" with
obverse design by William Barber. (George T. Morgan also designed
1879 goloid metric dollars, which are much rarer.) The sets were
offered first to Congressmen for $6.10, then to the public for $15
per set, according to that site, which adds that "the earliest
resale at auction for one of these sets that I am aware of was lots
1258-1260 of Scott Stamp and Coin's July 1880 sale." We lack that
catalog, but we came across another early appearance, in the Thomas
Cleneay Collection (S.H. and H. Chapman, 12/1890), lot 2059: "1879
Stella ($4 gold). Metric and Goloid metric dollars. Proofs. 3
pieces." The lot brought $8.50, a price that likely indicated
considerable contemporary doubt over the number of sets actually
produced.
Sets containing the 1879 Flowing Hair stella and the two Barber
1879 goloid metric dollars were also produced in copper, aluminum,
and white metal. There is so little documentation concerning the
1879 stellas that, as is usual in such cases, the numismatic
community has substituted misinformation, disinformation, and
"truthiness" instead. For example, the Judd pattern reference, 10th
edition, says that the three-piece sets were sold for $6.50 each,
not $6.10 as on USPatterns.com. A greater concern is this:

"It was announced by someone, perhaps a Mint official,
that 15 of the 1879 Flowing Hair $4 Stellas were struck, these as
patterns, but there was a sufficient demand for them that a few
hundred more were struck for congressmen, who are allowed to
acquire them for $6.50 each."

It is seldom that an "announcement by someone" would still be
quoted in a reputable numismatic reference as hard evidence 130
years later; but such is the absence of real documentation. The
original "announcement" could just as credibly (or more so) be
attributed to a well-connected 19th century coin dealer as its
source, one who was trying to reduce his stock of a pricey set that
he knew was produced to a larger extent than publicly known.
This is a splendid Flowing Hair example, especially for the grade.
The fields show exceptionally deep reflectivity, and the devices
are notably frosted, although a Cameo designation is conspicuously
absent from the PCGS insert. The usual light striations are seen in
the centers of each side. Close examination also reveals a few tiny
planchet voids in the fields. The surfaces are bright yellow-gold
with the barest overlay of reddish patina. An exceptional
stella.(Registry
values: P1) (NGC ID# 28AZ, PCGS# 8057)

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I want to thank you and Heritage for the services provided above and beyond those one would expect from an auction house. [ Entire Letter » ]
Larry A. Moody, Senior Internal Auditor, University of Alabama,Tuscaloosa, AL